Refrigeration device with ice storage container

ABSTRACT

A refrigeration device, in particular a domestic refrigeration device, comprises an ice maker and a storage container which can be moved between a collecting position for receiving ice produced by the ice maker and a discharging position. The storage container is supported in the collecting position by a compartment base of the refrigeration device and is guided between the collecting position and the discharging position by means of at least one rail fitted on the compartment base.

The present invention relates to a refrigeration device, in particular a domestic refrigeration device, having an ice maker and a storage container which can be moved between a collecting position for receiving ice produced by the ice maker and a discharging position.

Such a refrigeration device is known for example from DE 10 2006 017 804 A1.

With regard to this conventional refrigeration device, the ice maker and the storage container are accommodated in a common housing which is mounted in detachable fashion in the interior of the refrigeration device. The housing occupies only a small part of the width of one compartment of the interior. The storage container is guided in the housing like a drawer and can be pulled out from the housing in order to remove ice. The ice maker is filled with water manually and likewise pulled out from the housing for this purpose. When not in use, the housing together with the ice maker and storage container can be removed so that the entire width of the compartment is free and able to be otherwise used without restriction. If on the other hand the ice maker itself remains in the refrigeration device, then while the storage container can still always be removed, the possible uses for the space vacated by the removal of the storage container are nevertheless limited because no chilled goods having dimensions greater than those of the storage container can be accommodated.

With regard to a refrigeration device having an automatically operating ice maker, removal of the ice maker in the event of non-use is less than desirable since this requires the interruption of supply lines for electrical energy and water. If the storage container of such an ice maker, instead of being accommodated in a drawer guide, is deployed in freestanding fashion on a compartment base of the refrigeration device, although said compartment base is otherwise usable over its full extent after removal of the storage container, the problem does however result when the ice maker is used that if the position of the storage container on the compartment base is not clearly predetermined, ice pieces produced by the ice maker can miss the storage container.

The object of the invention is to create a refrigeration device having an ice maker and a storage container, wherein both when the ice maker is not in use at least the space occupied by the storage container can be made otherwise usable and also when the ice maker is in use a reliable transfer of the ice to the storage container is ensured.

The object is achieved in that in the case of a refrigeration device, in particular a domestic refrigeration device, having an ice maker and a storage container which can be moved between a collecting position for receiving ice produced by the ice maker and a discharging position, the storage container is supported in the collecting position by a compartment base of the refrigeration device and is guided between the collecting position and the discharging position by means of at least one rail fitted on the compartment base.

The restriction of the movement capability of the storage container by means of the rail is necessary particularly in the situation when the compartment base is significantly wider than the storage container in order that otherwise usable space is also available thereon in addition to a part occupied by the storage container. The rail can here expediently separate the part of the compartment base occupied by the storage container from a part of the compartment base which can be occupied by other chilled goods so that a user, even if the storage container has been removed, is able to distinguish the two parts from one another on the basis of the rail and can ensure when placing chilled goods in the refrigeration device that he does not block the space required for the storage container.

The rail is preferably mounted in detachable fashion on the compartment base. The rail can thus be removed when the ice maker is not used for an extended period and does not interfere with the placement of large-size chilled goods on the compartment base.

If the rail is mounted such that it lies on the compartment base, it is fixed by its own weight and the storage container resting thereon, and the requirements for other means for fastening the rail, such as the stability of the engagement, are minimal.

The rail should preferably have an edge, along which a first side wall of the storage container can be moved in sliding contact between the collecting position and the discharging position.

A second side wall of the storage container lying opposite said first side wall can be guided against a side wall of an interior of the refrigeration device.

A second rail is preferably provided which has an edge lying opposite the edge of the first rail; the storage container can then engage between the edges of the two rails.

The rail can furthermore have a continuous seating surface, along which a base of the storage container can be moved in sliding contact between the collecting position and the discharging position. The seating surface is preferably continuous. A continuous seating surface in particular facilitates the movement of the storage container in the situation when the compartment base itself, possibly because it is designed as a lattice, does not offer such a continuous seating surface.

If the width of the seating surface is greater than the height thereof above the compartment base, this excludes the possibility of the rail overturning under load.

The storage container can be guided by the rail on a path rising from the collecting position. This reduces the likelihood of the storage container being displaced from the collecting position by accidental bumping or by chilled goods pressing against it.

Such a rising path routing can in particular be achieved by the fact that an upwardly sloping ramp adjoins a front end of the horizontal seating surface.

A stop projection of the rail, which in the collecting position rests against a rear wall of the storage container, facilitates the exact placement of the storage container in the collecting position.

If the compartment base is a wire lattice, the rail can be fitted or snapped onto at least one wire of the wire lattice.

The rail can be formed cost-effectively in a single piece from plastic.

Further features and advantages of the invention will emerge from the following description of exemplary embodiments with reference to the attached figures. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a refrigeration device according to the invention;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross-section through the storage container and the surrounding area in accordance with a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows a schematic cross-section through the storage container and the surrounding area in accordance with a second embodiment; and

FIG. 4 shows a longitudinal section through a rail and the storage container guided thereon.

FIG. 1 shows a refrigeration device according to the invention, here a freezer of table-top design. An open door 1 provides a clear view into an interior 2 which is divided into a plurality of compartments by means of horizontal compartment bases 3. The compartment bases 3 can be of any desired known construction, for example plates of glass or the like, wire lattices as shown in FIG. 1, or wire tube evaporators. Some of the compartments of the interior 2 are in each case filled with a pull-out box 4. An ice maker 6 is mounted beneath the top of one of the compartments, identified by 5. A storage container 7 rests beneath the ice maker 6 on the compartment base 3 delimiting the compartment 5 downward.

The ice maker 6 can for example be designed for automatic operation; the construction thereof is already known and will therefore not be described in detail. As shown schematically in FIG. 2, a tray 8 is mounted in a fixed location in the ice maker 6 beneath a fresh water outlet 9. The tray 8 has a plurality of hollow molds 10 arranged behind one another in the depth direction TR (see FIG. 1) of the interior 2 which can be filled with water by way of the fresh water outlet 9. The hollow molds 10 have the shape of a segment of a circle in cross-section. A shaft 11 which can be driven by a motor extends along a common axis of the circle segments. When the motor drives the shaft 11, fingers 12 protruding from the shaft 11 in the radial direction are pressed into the hollow molds 10 in order to eject the ice pieces produced therein from the hollow molds 10 and discharge them over an edge 13 of the tray 8 into the storage container 7 below.

As FIG. 1 shows, the ice maker 6 and the storage container 7 occupy only a part 14 of the compartment 5. To the right of the storage container 7 extends a part 15 of the compartment 5 which can be used in order to receive any desired chilled goods not having any involvement with ice production. The part 15 here occupies more than half of the compartment 5 and offers sufficient space in order to also accommodate the storage container 7 itself therein. If however the storage container 7 is displaced too far into the part 15 compared with the position thereof shown in FIG. 1, the finished ice pieces discharged from the ice maker 6 miss the storage container 7, fall onto the compartment base 3 and freeze solidly there or are scattered in the compartments lying below.

In order to avoid this situation, the storage container 7 is supported on the compartment base 3 by way of one or more rails 16, 16′ which guide the storage container 7 in linear fashion between the collecting position shown in FIG. 1 beneath the ice maker 6 and a discharging position in which the storage container 7 is pulled out forwards from the compartment 5.

FIG. 1 shows such a rail 16 which extends beneath a right-hand side wall 17 of the storage container 7. According to a first embodiment of the invention and as shown in FIG. 2, a rail 16′ which is a mirror image of rail 16 is provided beneath the left-hand side wall 17′ (not visible in FIG. 1) of the storage container 7.

The rails 16, 16′ have an essentially L-shaped cross-section with a horizontal flank 18, the upper side of which forms a flat seating surface 19 which is continuous in the direction of movement of the storage container 7 for the floor panel 20 thereof, and an upright flank 21 which through contact of a vertical edge 22, 22′ with the side wall 17 or 17′ restricts the freedom of movement of the storage container in the width direction of the compartment 5 to typically a few millimeters.

The width b of the seating surface 19 is preferably between 1 and 2 cm; the height h of the flank 18 is less than said width b. The possibility of the rails 16, 16′ overturning under the weight of the storage container 7 lying thereon is therefore excluded even if a user should have failed to firmly anchor the rails 16, 16′ on the compartment base 3.

The rails 16, 16′ are implemented here as injection-molded parts made of plastic and are therefore hollow on their underside facing the compartment base 3. The lower edges of vertical outer walls 23, 24 of the rails 16, 16′ rest on upper wires 25 of the compartment base 3. For anchoring purposes on the compartment base 3 each rail 16, 16′ has two retaining claws 26 which engage beyond the lower edges of the walls 23, 24 into the compartment base 3. The retaining claws 26 are implemented here as plates having a slot 27 open to the bottom (see FIG. 4), in which a wire of the compartment base 3 is clamped. Here, the retaining claws 26 engage in each case between the thin upper wires 25 of the compartment base 3 in order to clamp a stouter lower wire 28 which crosses the upper wires 25 and to which the upper wires 25 are soldered or welded.

FIG. 3 shows a section analogous to FIG. 2 through the storage container 7 and the surrounding area thereof in accordance with a second embodiment of the invention. The rail 16 is identical to that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. A ledge 30 extending in the depth direction is formed in an already known manner on a side wall 29 of the interior 2, on which ledge 30 the compartment base 3 rests. The ledge 30 here has a stepped cross-section with a lower seating surface 31 for the compartment base 3 and an upper seating surface 32 which runs at the same height as the seating surface 19 of the rail 16 and on which the storage container 7 can be displaced in the depth direction. The freedom of movement of the storage container 7 in the width direction of the compartment is restricted here on the one hand by the vertical edge 22 of the rail 16 and on the other hand by the side wall 29 itself.

FIG. 4 shows a section in the depth direction through the compartment 5 and the rail 16 along a sectional plane identified in FIGS. 2 and 3 in each case by IV-IV. The retaining claws 26 can be seen here in a side view. The slots 27 are provided with an inclined insertion surface 43 at their lower end. The slots 27 are slightly widened in a central section 44 in order to grip around the wire 28 in a form-fitting manner. The slots 27 are extended upward beyond the central section 44 in order to allow them to more easily yield elastically when the retaining claws latch onto the wire 28.

The horizontal seating surface 19 is bounded to the rear by a vertically extending stop projection 33 and to the front by an upwardly sloping ramp 34. The length of the seating surface 19 matches the depth of the storage container 7, which means that in the collecting position a rear wall 35 of the storage container 7 abuts against the stop projection 33. An end wall 36 is located at the boundary between the seating surface 19 and the ramp 34. The collecting position is therefore a stable position of equilibrium from which the storage container 7 can be pulled out only forward in the direction of the discharging position. In order to be able to be pulled out the storage container 7 must preferably be lifted at the same time. This lifting of the storage container 7 means that it also attempts to return to the collecting position if it is not pushed exactly back right into the collecting position by the user after use.

By guiding the storage container 7 on the rails 16, 16′ or between the rail 16 and the side wall 29 in the depth direction of the compartment 5 it is possible to reliably ensure that the storage container 7 is positioned beneath the ice maker 6 such that it can receive the ejected ice pieces. In order to additionally exclude the possibility of a user operating the ice maker 6 and forgetting to place the storage container 7 beneath said ice maker 6, according to a development as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 a sensor 37 which can be actuated by the storage container 7 can be provided on the underside of the ice maker 6, which sensor 37 permits the operation of the ice maker 6 only when said sensor 37 is actuated.

The sensor 37 here comprises a pivotably mounted finger 38 and an electrical switch 39 actuated by the finger 38, by way of which a control circuit 40 is supplied with energy, which controls inter alia the motor, identified in FIG. 4 by 41, driving the shaft 11. When the storage container 7 has been removed or is situated in the discharging position, the finger 38 hangs freely down and the switch 39 is open. As FIG. 2 shows, the finger 38 is only slightly wider than the side wall 17′ of the storage container 7, which means that it is only held in the deflected state by the storage container 7 in the collecting position if said storage container 7 engages correctly between the edges 22, 22′ of the rails 16, 16′.

Alternatively or additionally, a second sensor 42 of the same construction is positioned such at a rear end of the ice maker 6 that the finger 38′ thereof is deflected by the rear wall 35 of the storage container 7 when said rear wall 35 comes up against the stop projection 33 in the collecting position.

List of Reference Characters

1 Door

2 Interior

3 Compartment base

4 Pull-out box

5 Compartment

6 Ice maker

7 Storage container

8 Tray

9 Fresh water outlet

10 Hollow mold

11 Shaft

12 Finger

13 Edge

14 Part (of the compartment)

15 Part (of the compartment)

16 Rail

17, 17′ Side wall (of storage container)

18, 18′ Flank

19 Seating surface

20 Floor panel

21 Flank

22, 22′ Edge

23 Outer wall (of rail)

24 Outer wall (of rail)

25 Upper wire

26 Retaining claw

27 Slot

28 Lower wire

29 Side wall (of interior)

30 Ledge

31 Lower seating surface

32 Upper seating surface

33 Stop projection

34 Ramp

35 Rear wall (of storage container)

36 End wall (of storage container)

37 Sensor

38, 38′ Finger

39 Switch

40 Control circuit

41 Motor

42 Sensor

43 Inclined insertion surface

44 Central section 

1. A refrigeration device, in particular a domestic refrigeration device, having an ice maker and a storage container which can be moved between a collecting position for receiving ice produced by the ice maker and a discharging position, wherein the storage container supported in the collecting position by a compartment base of the refrigeration device and is guided between the collecting position and the discharging position by means of at least one rail fitted on the compartment base.
 2. The refrigeration device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rail separates a part of the compartment base occupied by the storage container from a part of the compartment base which can be occupied by other chilled goods.
 3. The refrigeration device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rail is mounted in detachable fashion on the compartment base.
 4. The refrigeration device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rail is mounted such that it lies on the compartment base.
 5. The refrigeration device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rail has an edge, along which a first side wall of the storage container can be moved in sliding contact between the collecting position and the discharging position.
 6. The refrigeration device as claimed in claim 5, wherein a second rail 30 has an edge lying opposite the edge of the first rail and that the storage container engages between the edges.
 7. The refrigeration device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rail has a continuous seating surface, along which a floor panel of the storage container can be moved in sliding contact between the collecting position and the discharging position.
 8. The refrigeration device as claimed in claim 7, wherein the width of the seating surface is greater than the height thereof above the compartment base.
 9. The refrigeration device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the storage container is guided by the rail on a path rising from the collecting position.
 10. The refrigeration device as claimed in claim 8, wherein the seating surface is horizontal and that an upwardly sloping ramp adjoins a front end of the seating surface.
 11. The refrigeration device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rail has a stop projection, against which a rear wall of the storage container rests in the collecting position.
 12. The refrigeration device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the compartment base is a wire lattice and the rail is fitted or snapped onto at least one wire of the wire lattice.
 13. The refrigeration device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the rail has a retaining claw which is locked on the wire.
 14. The refrigeration device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the retaining claw has a slot with an inclined insertion surface.
 15. The refrigeration device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rail is formed in a single piece from plastic. 